Hazaribagh, Nov. 30: On a tip-off, the police raided the dense forest areas of Katkam sandi, and after a fierce gun-battle with Maoist extremists, recovered a rifle looted a few days ago from the Giridih armoury.

According to the deputy superintendent of police Lal Babu Paswan, the police team led by him reached the area around 10 in the morning.

The extremists opened fire, forcing the police to retaliate, according to sources.

Paswan confirmed that they fired 70 rounds, while the rebels fired 100.

Under the cover of the heavy firing, the extremists, 30 to 35 in numbers, managed to escape. The police, however, carried out a massive search, recovering a rifle, two bags, party literature, wires, detonators and bullets.

Officials verified and confirmed that the recovered rifle was one of the 185 looted recently from Giridih.

According to sources, extremists were using Hazaribagh and Chatra areas to reorganise themselves and chalk out strategies.